Hydro-meteorological calamities – INSIGHTSIAS

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GS Paper 3

Topics Covered: Disaster management. 

 

calamities: 

Context: 

The Union Home Ministry has released data on fatalities caused due to hydro-meteorological calamities. 

(Note: Hydro-meteorological calamities and hazards include flash floods, cloudburst and landslides). 

 

Highlights: 

  1. Nearly 6,800 people lost their lives in the country over the past three years due to hydro-meteorological calamities. 
  2. West Bengal has recorded the highest deaths among all States. 
  3. The causes for these calamities include extreme rainfall events or cloudbursts. 
  4. These types of fatal landslip events are common almost every year, mainly in the Himalayan States, in the Western Ghats, and Konkan areas. 
  5. In terms of funds released by the Centre under State Disaster Response Funds, highest funds were allocated to Maharashtra. 
  6. Over the past three years, West Bengal had braved four tropical cyclones — Fani (May 2019), Bulbul (November 2019), Amphan (May 2020) and Yaas (May 2021). 

 

States’ roles and responsibilities: 

Under the Disaster Management Act, States were empowered to take action to prevent deaths due to natural calamities. 

 

What is Disaster Management? 

The Disaster Management Act of 2005 defines Disaster Management as an integrated process of planning, organizing, coordinating and implementing measures which are necessary for: 

  1. Prevention of threat of any disaster 
  2. Reduction of risk of any disaster or its consequences 
  3. Readiness to deal with any disaster 
  4. Promptness in dealing with a disaster 
  5. Assessing the severity of the effects of any disaster 
  6. Rescue and relief 
  7. Rehabilitation and Reconstruction 

 

Organisations related to Disaster Management Framework at the National Level: 

  1. National Disaster Management Authority of India (NDMA). 
  2. National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP). 
  3. SDMA. 
  4. District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA). 

 

Policies/initiatives: 

  1. India is a signatory to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. 
  2. India is one of the participating countries and works closely with the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). 
  3. National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) defines the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders including Central Ministries/ Departments, State Governments, UT Administrations, District Authorities and local self Governments. 
  4. National Disaster Management Services (NDMS) was conceived by NDMA during 2015-16 for setting up of Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Network connecting MHA, NDMA, NDRF etc. to provide the failsafe communication infrastructure and technical support for Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) operations across the country. 
  5. Landslide Risk Mitigation Scheme (LRMS) envisages financial support for site specific Landslide Mitigation Projects. 

Sources: the Hindu

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